Gideon’s Valiant Three Hundred

7 Then ^(A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.

² And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel ^(B)claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ ³ Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ^(C)‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.

⁴ But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” ⁶ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water. ⁷ Then the Lord said to Gideon, ^(D)“By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his ^[a]place.” ⁸ So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹ It happened on the same ^(E)night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, ¹¹ and you shall ^(F)hear what they say; and afterward ^[b]your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. ¹² Now the Midianites and Amalekites, ^(G)all the people of the East, were lying in the valley ^(H)as numerous as locusts; and their camels were ^[c]without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

¹³ And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”

¹⁴ Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand ^(I)God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”

¹⁵ And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.” ¹⁶ Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, ‘The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!’ ”

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. ²⁰ Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” ²¹ And ^(J)every man stood in his place all around the camp; ^(K)and the whole army ran and cried out and fled. ²² When the three hundred ^(L)blew the trumpets, ^(M)the Lord set ^(N)every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to ^[d]Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of ^(O)Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.

²³ And the men of Israel gathered together from ^(P)Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

Naboth Is Murdered for His Vineyard

21 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in ^(A)Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ² So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your ^(B)vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”

³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid ^(C)that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

⁴ So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. ⁵ But ^(D)Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

⁶ He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

⁷ Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. ⁹ She wrote in the letters, saying,

¹¹ So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. ^12 (G)They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. ¹³ And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels ^(H)witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” ^(I)Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. ¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” ¹⁶ So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

The Lord Condemns Ahab

^17 (J)Then the word of the Lord came to ^(K)Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, ^(L)who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. ¹⁹ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” ’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(M)“In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”

²⁰ So Ahab said to Elijah, ^(N)“Have you found me, O my enemy?”

And he answered, “I have found you, because ^(O)you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord: ²¹ ‘Behold, ^(P)I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your ^(Q)posterity, and will cut off from Ahab ^(R)every male in Israel, both ^(S)bond and free. ²² I will make your house like the house of ^(T)Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of ^(U)Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ ²³ And ^(V)concerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the ^[b]wall of Jezreel.’ ²⁴ The dogs shall eat ^(W)whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.”

²⁵ But ^(X)there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, ^(Y)because Jezebel his wife ^[c]stirred him up. ²⁶ And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all ^(Z)that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

²⁷ So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and ^(AA)put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.

²⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ “See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he ^(AB)has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. ^(AC)In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.”

A Boy Is Healed^(A)

^14 (B)And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. ¹⁵ Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. ¹⁶ And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”

¹⁷ Then ^(C)one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. ¹⁸ And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

¹⁹ He answered him and said, “O ^(D)faithless^[a] generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I ^[b]bear with you? Bring him to Me.” ²⁰ Then they brought him to Him. And ^(E)when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

²¹ So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. ²² And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

²³ Jesus said to him, ^(F)“If^[c] you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; ^(G)help my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He ^(H)rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” ²⁶ Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

^28 (I)And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”

²⁹ So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but ^(J)prayer ^[d]and fasting.”

Paul Urged to Make Peace

¹⁵ And after those days we ^[a]packed and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them a certain Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge.

^17 (A)And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. ¹⁸ On the following day Paul went in with us to ^(B)James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ When he had greeted them, ^(C)he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles ^(D)through his ministry. ²⁰ And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all ^(E)zealous for the law; ²¹ but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. ^22 [b]What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. ²³ Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. ²⁴ Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may ^(F)shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. ²⁵ But concerning the Gentiles who believe, ^(G)we have written and decided ^[c]that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from ^[d]sexual immorality.”

Arrested in the Temple

²⁶ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, ^(H)entered the temple ^(I)to announce the ^[e]expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.

²⁷ Now when the seven days were almost ended, ^(J)the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and ^(K)laid hands on him, ²⁸ crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man ^(L)who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ (For they had ^[f]previously seen ^(M)Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)

³⁰ And ^(N)all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹ Now as they were ^(O)seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the ^[g]garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ^32 (P)He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the ^(Q)commander came near and took him, and ^(R)commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another.

So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks. ³⁵ When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. ³⁶ For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, ^(S)“Away with him!”