²⁴ Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the ^(A)mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites, and seize from them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.” Then all the men of Ephraim gathered together and ^(B)seized the watering places as far as ^(C)Beth Barah and the Jordan. ²⁵ And they captured ^(D)two princes of the Midianites, ^(E)Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the ^(F)other side of the Jordan.

Gideon Subdues the Midianites

8 Now ^(G)the men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they reprimanded him sharply.

² So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the ^[a]gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than ^[b]the vintage of ^(H)Abiezer? ^3 (I)God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their ^(J)anger toward him subsided when he said that.

⁴ When Gideon came ^(K)to the Jordan, he and ^(L)the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. ⁵ Then he said to the men of ^(M)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.”

⁶ And the leaders of Succoth said, ^(N)“Are^[c] the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that ^(O)we should give bread to your army?”

⁷ So Gideon said, “For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^(P)then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!” ⁸ Then he went up from there ^(Q)to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way. And the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ So he also spoke to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I ^(R)come back in peace, ^(S)I will tear down this tower!”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were at Karkor, and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand, all who were left of ^(T)all the army of the people of the East; for ^(U)one hundred and twenty thousand men who drew the sword had fallen. ¹¹ Then Gideon went up by the road of those who dwell in tents on the east of ^(V)Nobah and Jogbehah; and he ^[d]attacked the army while the camp felt ^(W)secure. ¹² When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them; and he ^(X)took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the whole army.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from battle, from the Ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he caught a young man of the men of Succoth and interrogated him; and he wrote down for him the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ Then he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you ^(Y)ridiculed me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your weary men?’ ” ^16 (Z)And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he ^[e]taught the men of Succoth. ^17 (AA)Then he tore down the tower of ^(AB)Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ And he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were they whom you killed at ^(AC)Tabor?”

So they answered, “As you are, so were they; each one resembled the son of a king.”

¹⁹ Then he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ And he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise, kill them!” But the youth would not draw his sword; for he was afraid, because he was still a youth.

²¹ So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself, and kill us; for as a man is, so is his strength.” So Gideon arose and ^(AD)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescent ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, ^(AE)“Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have ^(AF)delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

²³ But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; ^(AG)the Lord shall rule over you.” ²⁴ Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to ^[f]make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, ^(AH)because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵ So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. ²⁶ Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Then Gideon ^(AI)made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, ^(AJ)Ophrah. And all Israel ^(AK)played the harlot with it there. It became ^(AL)a snare to Gideon and to his house.

²⁸ Thus Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted their heads no more. ^(AM)And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon.

The New Priestly Service

8 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, ^(A)who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, ² a Minister of ^(B)the ^[a]sanctuary and of ^(C)the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

³ For ^(D)every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore ^(E)it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. ⁴ For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; ⁵ who serve ^(F)the copy and ^(G)shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ^(H)“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But now ^(I)He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a ^(J)better covenant, which was established on better promises.

A New Covenant^(K)

⁷ For if that ^(L)first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. ⁸ Because finding fault with them, He says: ^(M)“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ⁹ not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the ^(N)Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and ^(O)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ^11 (P)None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the ^(Q)Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. ¹² For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, ^(R)and their sins ^[b]and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

^13 (S)In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

³² Now Gideon the son of Joash died ^(A)at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, ^(B)in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ So it was, ^(C)as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again ^(D)played the harlot with the Baals, ^(E)and made Baal-Berith their god. ³⁴ Thus the children of Israel ^(F)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; ^35 (G)nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.

Abimelech’s Conspiracy

9 Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to ^(H)his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, ² “Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(I)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and ^(J)bone.”

³ And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our ^(K)brother.” ⁴ So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of ^(L)Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired ^(M)worthless and reckless men; and they followed him. ⁵ Then he went to his father’s house ^(N)at Ophrah and ^(O)killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. ⁶ And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.

The Parable of the Trees

⁷ Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(P)Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them:

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him ^(X)as^[a] he deserves— ¹⁷ for my ^(Y)father fought for you, risked his life, and ^(Z)delivered you out of the hand of Midian; ^18 (AA)but you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his ^(AB)female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother— ¹⁹ if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(AC)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(AD)let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to ^(AE)Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

Downfall of Abimelech

²² After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, ^23 (AF)God sent a ^(AG)spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem ^(AH)dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ^24 (AI)that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their ^(AJ)blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers.

The Earthly Sanctuary^(A)

9 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and ^(B)the earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the ^[a]sanctuary; ^3 (C)and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the ^(D)golden censer and ^(E)the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were ^(F)the golden pot that had the manna, ^(G)Aaron’s rod that budded, and ^(H)the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and ^(I)above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Limitations of the Earthly Service

⁶ Now when these things had been thus prepared, ^(J)the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷ But into the second part the high priest went alone ^(K)once a year, not without blood, which he offered for ^(L)himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that ^(M)the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered ^(N)which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— ¹⁰ concerned only with ^(O)foods and drinks, ^(P)various ^[b]washings, ^(Q)and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

The Heavenly Sanctuary

¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of ^(R)the good things ^[c]to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not ^(S)with the blood of goats and calves, but ^(T)with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place ^(U)once for all, ^(V)having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if ^(W)the blood of bulls and goats and ^(X)the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, ^[d]sanctifies for the ^[e]purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without ^[f]spot to God, ^(Y)cleanse your conscience from ^(Z)dead works ^(AA)to serve the living God?