^24 (A)Gideon sent messengers throughout ^(B)all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as ^(C)Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵ And they captured ^(D)the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb ^(E)at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon ^(F)across the Jordan.

Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

8 ^(G)Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. ² And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not ^(H)the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? ^3 (I)God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” ^(J)Then their anger^[a] against him subsided when he said this.

⁴ And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and ^(K)the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. ⁵ So he said to the men of ^(L)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” ⁶ And the officials of Succoth said, ^(M)“Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, ^(N)that we should give bread to your army?” ⁷ So Gideon said, “Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, ^(O)I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” ⁸ And from there he went up to ^(P)Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. ⁹ And he said to the men of Penuel, ^(Q)“When I come again in peace, ^(R)I will break down this tower.”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of ^(S)the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men ^(T)who drew the sword. ¹¹ And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of ^(U)Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt ^(V)secure. ¹² And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them ^(W)and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic.

¹³ Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. ¹⁴ And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. ¹⁵ And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ^(X)‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” ¹⁶ And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. ^17 (Y)And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.

¹⁸ Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at ^(Z)Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” ¹⁹ And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. ^(AA)As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” ²⁰ So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. ²¹ Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and ^(AB)killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took ^(AC)the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.

Gideon's Ephod

²² Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” ²³ Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; ^(AD)the Lord will rule over you.” ²⁴ And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, ^(AE)because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵ And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. ²⁶ And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels^[b] of gold, besides ^(AF)the crescent ornaments and ^(AG)the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. ²⁷ And Gideon ^(AH)made an ephod of it and put it in his city, ^(AI)in Ophrah. And all Israel ^(AJ)whored after it there, and it became a ^(AK)snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸ So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. ^(AL)And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

8 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, ^(A)one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² a minister in the holy places, in ^(B)the true tent^[a] that the Lord ^(C)set up, not man. ³ For ^(D)every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus ^(E)it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. ⁴ Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. ⁵ They serve ^(F)a copy and ^(G)shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ^(H)“See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But as it is, Christ^[b] has obtained a ministry that is ^(I)as much more excellent than the old as ^(J)the covenant ^(K)he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. ^7 (L)For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

⁸ For he finds fault with them when he says:^[c]

¹³ In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And ^(R)what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

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

^33 (C)As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and ^(D)whored after the Baals and made ^(E)Baal-berith their god. ³⁴ And the people of Israel ^(F)did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, ^35 (G)and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Abimelech's Conspiracy

9 Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to ^(H)his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, ² “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all ^(I)seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that ^(J)I am ^(K)your bone and your flesh.”

³ And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, ^(L)“He is our brother.” ⁴ And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of ^(M)Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired ^(N)worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ And he went to his father's house at ^(O)Ophrah ^(P)and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. ⁶ And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all ^(Q)Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

⁷ When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of ^(R)Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. ^8 (S)The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ^(T)‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁰ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹² And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that ^(U)cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and ^(V)take refuge in my shade, but if not, ^(W)let fire come out of the bramble and devour ^(X)the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with ^(Y)Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him ^(Z)as his deeds deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ and you have risen up against my father's house this day ^(AA)and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made ^(AB)Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, ^(AC)because he is your relative— ¹⁹ if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then ^(AD)rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, ^(AE)let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” ²¹ And Jotham ran away and fled and went to ^(AF)Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

The Downfall of Abimelech

²² Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. ^23 (AG)And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem ^(AH)dealt treacherously with Abimelech, ^24 (AI)that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

The Earthly Holy Place

9 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and ^(A)an earthly place of holiness. ² For ^(B)a tent^[a] was prepared, the first section, in which were ^(C)the lampstand and ^(D)the table and ^(E)the bread of the Presence.^[b] It is called the Holy Place. ³ Behind ^(F)the second curtain was a second section^[c] called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ having the golden ^(G)altar of incense and ^(H)the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^(I)a golden urn holding the manna, and ^(J)Aaron's staff that budded, and ^(K)the tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above it were ^(L)the cherubim of glory overshadowing ^(M)the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶ These preparations having thus been made, ^(N)the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, ⁷ but into the second only ^(O)the high priest goes, and he but ^(P)once a year, and not without taking blood, ^(Q)which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. ⁸ By this the Holy Spirit indicates that ^(R)the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing ⁹ (which is symbolic for the present age).^[d] According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered ^(S)that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, ¹⁰ but deal only with ^(T)food and drink and ^(U)various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a high priest ^(V)of the good things that have come,^[e] then through ^(W)the greater and more perfect tent (^(X)not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹² he ^(Y)entered ^(Z)once for all into the holy places, not by means of ^(AA)the blood of goats and calves but ^(AB)by means of his own blood, ^(AC)thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³ For if ^(AD)the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with ^(AE)the ashes of a heifer, sanctify^[f] for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will ^(AF)the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ^(AG)offered himself without blemish to God, ^(AH)purify our^[g] conscience ^(AI)from dead works ^(AJ)to serve the living God.