Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites

7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod, and the camp of Midian was north of them, below^[a] the hill of Moreh, in the valley.^(A)

² The Lord said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’^{(B) 3} Now, therefore, proclaim this in the hearing of the troops, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’ ” Thus Gideon sifted them out;^[b] twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.^(C)

⁴ Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many; take them down to the water, and I will sift them out for you there. When I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you, and when I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”^{(D) 5} So he brought the troops down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths,^[c] you shall put to the other side.” ⁶ The number of those who lapped was three hundred, but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. ⁷ Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred who lapped I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes.”^{(E) 8} So the people took provisions in their hands and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel back to their own tents but retained the three hundred. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹ That same night the Lord said to him, “Get up; attack the camp, for I have given it into your hand.^{(F) 10} But if you fear to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah, ¹¹ and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to attack the camp.” Then he went down with his servant Purah to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.^{(G) 12} The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley as thick as locusts, and their camels were without number, countless as the sand on the seashore.^{(H) 13} When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling a dream to his comrade, and he said, “I had a dream, and in it a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell; it turned upside down, and the tent collapsed.” ¹⁴ And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Midian and all the army.”^(I)

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped, and he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the Lord has given the army of Midian into your hand.”^{(J) 16} After he divided the three hundred men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars, ¹⁷ he said to them, “Look at me, and do the same; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets around the whole camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’ ”^(K)

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰ So the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches and in their right hands the trumpets to blow, and they cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”^{(L) 21} Every man stood in his place all around the camp, and all the men in camp ran; they cried out and fled.^{(M) 22} When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army, and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,^[d] as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.^{(N) 23} And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after the Midianites.^(O)

Naboth’s Vineyard

21 Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.^{(A) 2} And Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it, or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.”^{(B) 3} But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.”^{(C) 4} Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you my ancestral inheritance.” He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat.^(D)

⁵ His wife Jezebel came to him and said, “Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?” ⁶ He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it,’ but he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ” ⁷ His wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”^(E)

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.^{(F) 9} She wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; ¹⁰ seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”^{(G) 11} The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, ¹² they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly. ¹³ The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him, and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.^{(H) 14} Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

¹⁵ As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Go, 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 As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

Elijah Pronounces God’s Sentence

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,^{(I) 18} “Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules^[a] in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession.^{(J) 19} You shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: Have you killed and also taken possession? You shall say to him: Thus says the Lord: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood.”^(K)

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord,^{(L) 21} I will bring disaster on you; I will consume you and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel,^{(M) 22} and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin. ²³ Also concerning Jezebel the Lord said: The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.^{(N) 24} Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat.”^(O)

²⁵ (Indeed, there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, urged on by his wife Jezebel. ²⁶ He acted most abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.)^(P)

²⁷ When Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his bare flesh; he fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly.^{(Q) 28} Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, ²⁹ “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days, but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster on his house.”^(R)

The Healing of a Boy with a Spirit

¹⁴ When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵ When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. ¹⁶ He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” ¹⁷ Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak, ¹⁸ and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid, and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.” ¹⁹ He answered them, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ And they brought the boy^[a] to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy,^[b] and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus^[c] asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. ²² It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, help us! Have compassion on us!” ²³ Jesus said to him, “If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out,^[d] “I believe; help my unbelief!” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You spirit that keeps this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!” ²⁶ After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. ²⁸ When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”^{(A) 29} He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”^[e]

¹⁵ After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came along and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.^(A)

Paul Visits James at Jerusalem

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly.^{(B) 18} The next day Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present.^{(C) 19} After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the gentiles through his ministry.^{(D) 20} When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law.^{(E) 21} They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake Moses and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. ²² What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.^{(F) 24} Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you but that you yourself observe and guard the law.^{(G) 25} But as for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled^[a] and from sexual immorality.”^{(H) 26} Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.^(I)

Paul Arrested in the Temple

²⁷ When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him,^{(J) 28} shouting, “Fellow Israelites,^[b] help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”^{(K) 29} For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.^{(L) 30} Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.^{(M) 31} While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.^{(N) 33} Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done.^{(O) 34} Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another, and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.^{(P) 35} When Paul^[c] came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶ The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”^(Q)