²⁶ Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his relatives, and crossed over into Shechem; and the ^[a]leaders of Shechem trusted him. ²⁷ So they went out to the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trampled them, and held a festival; and they went into the house of ^(A)their god, and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. ²⁸ Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his governor? Serve the men of ^(B)Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? ^29 [b](C)If only this people were under my authority! Then I would do away with Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Enlarge your army and come out!”

³⁰ When Zebul the leader of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned. ³¹ So using deception, he successfully sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are ^[c]stirring up the city against you. ³² So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. ³³ Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and attack the city; and behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall ^(D)do to them ^[d]whatever you can.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all the people who were with him got up at night, and lay in wait against Shechem, in four ^[e]units. ³⁵ Now Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush. ³⁶ When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “^[f]Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were people.” ³⁷ And Gaal spoke yet again and said, “Look, people are coming down from ^(E)the ^[g]highest part of the land, and one ^[h]unit is coming by way of ^[i]the diviners’ ^[j]oak.” ³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where then is your ^[k]boasting with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight them!” ³⁹ So Gaal went out ^[l]in the sight of the ^[m]leaders of Shechem and fought Abimelech. ⁴⁰ But Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ Then Abimelech stayed in Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not stay in Shechem.

⁴² Now it came about the next day, that the people went out to the field, and it was reported to Abimelech. ⁴³ So he took ^[n]his people and divided them into three ^[o]units, and lay in wait in the field; when he looked and ^[p]saw the people coming out from the city, he ^[q]attacked them and killed them. ⁴⁴ Then Abimelech and the ^[r]company who was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate; the other two ^[s]companies then attacked all who were in the field and killed them. ⁴⁵ Abimelech fought against the city that whole day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he ^(F)tore down the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ When all the ^[t]leaders of the tower of Shechem heard about it, they entered the inner chamber of the ^[u]temple of ^(G)El-berith. ⁴⁷ And it was reported to Abimelech that all the ^[v]leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. ⁴⁸ So Abimelech went up to Mount ^(H)Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took ^[w]an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and lifted it and put it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you saw me do, hurry and do ^[x]likewise.” ⁴⁹ So all the people also cut down, each one, his branch and followed Abimelech, and put them on top of the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he camped against Thebez and captured it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the ^[y]leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower. ⁵² So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it down with fire. ⁵³ But ^(I)a woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull. ⁵⁴ Then ^(J)he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So ^[z]the young man pierced him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ Now when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each left for his ^[aa]home. ⁵⁶ So ^(K)God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷ God also returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came ^[ab]upon them.

¹⁵ For this reason ^(A)He is the ^(B)mediator of a ^(C)new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been ^(D)called may ^(E)receive the promise of ^(F)the eternal inheritance. ¹⁶ For where there is a ^[a]covenant, there must of necessity ^[b]be the death of the one who made it. ¹⁷ For a ^[c]covenant is valid only when people are dead, ^[d]for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. ¹⁸ Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. ¹⁹ For when every commandment had been ^(G)spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, ^(H)he took the ^(I)blood of the calves and the goats, with ^(J)water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both ^(K)the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, “^(L)This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” ²¹ And in the same way he ^(M)sprinkled both the ^[e]tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. ²² And ^(N)almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and ^(O)without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³ Therefore it was necessary for the ^(P)copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these things, but ^(Q)the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ ^(R)did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of ^(S)the true one, but into ^(T)heaven itself, now ^(U)to appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵ nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as ^(V)the high priest enters ^(W)the Holy Place ^(X)year by year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since ^(Y)the foundation of the world; but now ^(Z)once at ^(AA)the consummation of the ages He has been ^(AB)revealed to put away sin ^[f](AC)by the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷ And just as ^(AD)it is destined for people to die once, and after this ^(AE)comes judgment, ²⁸ so Christ also, having been ^(AF)offered once to ^(AG)bear the sins of many, will appear ^(AH)a second time for ^(AI)salvation ^(AJ)without reference to sin, to those who ^(AK)eagerly await Him.

¹⁷ Then the sons of Ammon were summoned, and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in ^(A)Mizpah. ¹⁸ And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.”

Jephthah, the Ninth Judge

11 Now ^(B)Jephthah the Gileadite was a ^[a]valiant warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. And Gilead had fathered Jephthah. ² Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” ³ So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of ^(C)Tob; and worthless men gathered ^[b]around Jephthah, and they went ^[c]wherever he did.

⁴ Now it came about, after a while, that ^(D)the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. ⁵ When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob; ⁶ and they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the sons of Ammon.” ⁷ But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “^(E)Did you not hate me and drive me from my father’s house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?” ⁸ The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight the sons of Ammon, and ^(F)become our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” ⁹ So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the Lord gives them up ^[d]to me, will I become your head?” ¹⁰ And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “^(G)The Lord is ^[e]witness between us; be assured we will do ^[f]as you have said.” ¹¹ Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at ^(H)Mizpah.

¹² So Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, “What conflict do you and I have, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” ¹³ And the king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, “It is because Israel ^(I)took my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the ^(J)Jabbok and the Jordan; so return them peaceably now.” ¹⁴ But Jephthah sent messengers once again to the king of the sons of Ammon, ¹⁵ and they said to him, “This is what Jephthah says: ‘Israel did not take the land of Moab nor the land of the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶ For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel ^(K)went through the wilderness to the ^[g]Red Sea, and ^(L)came to Kadesh, ¹⁷ then Israel ^(M)sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, “Please let us pass through your land”; but the king of Edom would not listen. ^(N)And they also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. ¹⁸ Then they went through the wilderness and ^(O)around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and came to the east side of the land of Moab, and they camped beyond the Arnon; but they ^(P)did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. ¹⁹ And Israel sent ^(Q)messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our place.” ²⁰ But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered all his people and camped in Jahaz, and fought with Israel. ²¹ And the Lord, the God of Israel, handed Sihon and all his people over to Israel, and they ^[h](R)defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country. ^22 (S)So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok, and from the wilderness as far as the Jordan. ²³ And now the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from His people Israel; so should you possess it? ²⁴ Do you not possess what ^(T)Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess it. ²⁵ Now then, are you any better than ^(U)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel, or did he ever fight against them? ^26 (V)While Israel was living in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years, why did you not recover them within that time? ²⁷ So I have not sinned against you, but you are doing me wrong by making war against me. ^(W)May the Lord, the Judge, judge today between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ammon.’” ²⁸ But the king of the sons of Ammon ^[i]disregarded the message which Jephthah sent him.

One Sacrifice of Christ Is Sufficient

10 For the Law, since it has only ^(A)a shadow of ^(B)the good things to come and not the ^[a]form of those things itself, ^[b]can ^(C)never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually every year, ^(D)make those who approach perfect. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had ^(E)consciousness of sins? ³ But ^(F)in ^[c]those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For it is ^(G)impossible for the ^(H)blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. ⁵ Therefore, ^(I)when He comes into the world, He says,

⁸ After saying above, “^(O)Sacrifices and offerings and ^(P)whole burnt offerings and offerings ^(Q)for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), ⁹ then He ^[d]said, “^(R)Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ By ^[e]this will, we have been ^(S)sanctified through ^(T)the offering of ^(U)the body of Jesus Christ ^(V)once for all time.

¹¹ Every priest stands daily ministering and ^(W)offering time after time the same sacrifices, which ^(X)can never take away sins; ¹² but He, having offered one sacrifice ^(Y)for ^[f]sins ^(Z)for all time, ^(AA)sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ waiting from that time onward ^(AB)until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet. ¹⁴ For by one offering He has ^(AC)perfected ^(AD)for all time those who are ^[g]sanctified. ¹⁵ And ^(AE)the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

He then says,

¹⁸ Now where there is forgiveness of these things, an offering for sin is no longer required.