Jephthah's Conflict with Ephraim

12 ^(A)The men of Ephraim were called to arms, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the Ammonites and did not call us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” ² And Jephthah said to them, “I and my people had a great dispute with the Ammonites, and when I called you, you did not save me from their hand. ³ And when I saw that you would not save me, ^(B)I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” ⁴ Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, ^(C)“You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” ⁵ And the Gileadites captured ^(D)the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over”, the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No”, ⁶ they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth”, and he said, “Sibboleth”, for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at ^(E)the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

⁷ Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in his city in Gilead.^[a]

Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon

⁸ After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. ⁹ He had thirty sons, and thirty daughters he gave in marriage outside his clan, and thirty daughters he brought in from outside for his sons. And he judged Israel for seven years. ¹⁰ Then Ibzan died and was buried at Bethlehem.

¹¹ After him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel, and he judged Israel for ten years. ¹² Then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried at Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

¹³ After him Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. ¹⁴ He had forty ^(F)sons and thirty grandsons, who ^(G)rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel for eight years. ¹⁵ Then Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul^[a] came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named ^(A)Timothy, ^(B)the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. ² He was well spoken of by ^(C)the brothers^[b] at Lystra and Iconium. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he ^(D)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance ^(E)the decisions ^(F)that had been reached by ^(G)the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. ^5 (H)So the churches were strengthened in ^(I)the faith, and they increased in numbers ^(J)daily.

The Macedonian Call

⁶ And ^(K)they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷ And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but ^(L)the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸ So, passing by Mysia, they went down ^(M)to Troas. ⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ And when Paul^[c] had seen the vision, immediately ^(N)we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ So, setting sail from Troas, we ^(O)made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to ^(P)Philippi, which is a leading city of the^[d] district of Macedonia and ^(Q)a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. ¹³ And ^(R)on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^(S)to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^(T)sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. ¹⁴ One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^(U)who was a worshipper of God. The Lord ^(V)opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ And after she was baptized, ^(W)and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she ^(X)prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ As we were going to ^(Y)the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^(Z)a spirit of ^(AA)divination and ^(AB)brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us, ^(AC)crying out, “These men are ^(AD)servants^[e] of ^(AE)the Most High God, who proclaim to you ^(AF)the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^(AG)“I command you ^(AH)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^(AI)it came out that very hour.

¹⁹ But ^(AJ)when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^(AK)dragged them into the market-place before the rulers. ²⁰ And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹ They ^(AL)advocate customs that are not lawful for us ^(AM)as Romans to accept or practise.” ²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders ^(AN)to beat them with rods. ²³ And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴ Having received this order, he put them into the inner ^(AO)prison and fastened their feet in ^(AP)the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

^25 (AQ)About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶ and suddenly ^(AR)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately ^(AS)all the doors were opened, and ^(AT)everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and ^(AU)was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ And the jailer^[f] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ^(AV)fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, ^(AW)what must I do to be ^(AX)saved?” ³¹ And they said, ^(AY)“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you ^(AZ)and your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them ^(BA)the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he ^(BB)was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴ Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he ^(BC)rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

³⁵ But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, ^(BD)uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” ³⁸ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and ^(BE)they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. ³⁹ So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and ^(BF)asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ So they went out of the prison and visited ^(BG)Lydia. And when they had seen ^(BH)the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.

Seventy Years of Captivity

25 ^(A)The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ² which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ³ “For twenty-three years, ^(B)from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken ^(C)persistently to you, ^(D)but you have not listened. ^4 (E)You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord ^(F)persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, ⁵ saying, ^(G)‘Turn now, every one of you, ^(H)from his evil way and evil deeds, and ^(I)dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and for ever. ^6 (J)Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, ^(K)or provoke me to anger ^(L)with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ ^7 (M)Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, ^(N)that you might provoke me to anger ^(O)with the work of your hands to your own harm.

⁸ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, ^9 (P)behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(Q)my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, ^(R)and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. ¹⁰ Moreover, ^(S)I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^(T)the grinding of the millstones and ^(U)the light of the lamp. ^11 (V)This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and ^(W)these nations shall serve the king of Babylon ^(X)seventy years. ¹² Then after ^(Y)seventy years are completed, ^(Z)I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ^(AA)the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ^(AB)making the land an everlasting waste. ¹³ I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written ^(AC)in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. ^14 (AD)For many nations ^(AE)and great kings shall make slaves even of them, ^(AF)and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of the Lord's Wrath

¹⁵ Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: ^(AG)“Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. ¹⁶ They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of ^(AH)the sword that I am sending among them.”

¹⁷ So I took the cup from the Lord's hand, ^(AI)and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: ^18 (AJ)Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, ^(AK)to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; ^19 (AL)Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, ²⁰ and ^(AM)all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of ^(AN)the land of Uz and all the kings of ^(AO)the land of the Philistines (^(AP)Ashkelon, ^(AQ)Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of ^(AR)Ashdod); ^21 (AS)Edom, ^(AT)Moab, and the sons of ^(AU)Ammon; ²² all the kings of ^(AV)Tyre, all the kings of ^(AW)Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across ^(AX)the sea; ^23 (AY)Dedan, ^(AZ)Tema, ^(BA)Buz, and all who cut ^(BB)the corners of their hair; ²⁴ all the ^(BC)kings of Arabia and all the kings of ^(BD)the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; ²⁵ all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of ^(BE)Elam, and all the kings of ^(BF)Media; ²⁶ all the kings of ^(BG)the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of ^(BH)Babylon^[a] shall drink.

²⁷ “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(BI)Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of ^(BJ)the sword that I am sending among you.’

²⁸ “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(BK)You must drink! ²⁹ For behold, ^(BL)I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, ^(BM)for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’

³⁰ “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

^33 (BT)“And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. ^(BU)They shall not be lamented, ^(BV)or gathered, or buried; ^(BW)they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.