The Lord Tests Israel

3 These are the nations the Lord left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan.^{(A) 2} This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before. ³ These nations included the five rulers^(B) of the Philistines^(C) and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians,^(D) and the Hivites^(E) who lived in the Lebanese mountains from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath.^{[a] 4} The Lord left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the Lord’s commands he had given their ancestors through Moses.^{(F) 5} But they settled among the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. ⁶ The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.^(G)

Othniel, the First Judge

⁷ The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; they forgot the Lord their God^(H) and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs. ⁸ The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to King Cushan-rishathaim^[b] of Aram-naharaim,^[c](I) and the Israelites served him eight years.

⁹ The Israelites cried out to the Lord.^(J) So the Lord raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother,^(K) as a deliverer^(L) to save the Israelites. ¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the Lord handed over King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him. ¹¹ Then the land had peace for^(M) forty years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud

¹² The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. He gave King Eglon of Moab^(N) power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the Lord’s sight. ¹³ After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms.^{[d](O) 14} The Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed^(P) Benjaminite,^[e] as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him with the tribute^(Q) for King Eglon of Moab.

¹⁶ Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long.^[f] He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes ¹⁷ and brought the tribute to King Eglon of Moab, who was an extremely fat man. ¹⁸ When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it. ¹⁹ At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, “King Eglon, I have a secret message for you.” The king said, “Silence!” and all his attendants left him. ²⁰ Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his upstairs room where it was cool. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you,” and the king stood up from his throne. ²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly. ²² Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And the waste came out.^{[g] 23} Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.

²⁴ Ehud was gone when Eglon’s servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself^[h] in the cool room. ²⁵ The servants waited until they became embarrassed and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor!

²⁶ Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He passed the Jordan near the carved images and reached Seirah. ²⁷ After he arrived, he sounded the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader. ²⁸ He told them, “Follow me, because the Lord has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.” So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.^{(R) 29} At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all stout and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped. ³⁰ Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Shamgar

³¹ After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He also delivered Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with a cattle prod.

Stephen’s Sermon

7 “Are these things true?” the high priest asked.

² “Brothers and fathers,” he replied, “listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,^{(A) 3} and said to him: Leave your country and relatives, and come to the land that I will show you.^[a](B)

⁴ “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this land in which you are now living.^{(C) 5} He didn’t give him an inheritance in it—not even a foot of ground—but he promised to give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him,^(D) even though he was childless. ⁶ God spoke in this way: His descendants would be strangers in a foreign country, and they would enslave and oppress them for four hundred years. ⁷ I will judge the nation that they will serve as slaves, God said. After this, they will come out and worship me in this place.^{[b](E) 8} And so he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. After this, he fathered Isaac and circumcised^(F) him on the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.^(G)

The Patriarchs in Egypt

⁹ “The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but God was with him^{(H) 10} and rescued him out of all his troubles. He gave him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over his whole household.^{(I) 11} Now a famine and great suffering came over all of Egypt and Canaan,^(J) and our ancestors could find no food. ¹² When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time. ¹³ The second time, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all,^{(K) 15} and Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there,^{(L) 16} were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.^(M)

Moses, a Rejected Savior

¹⁷ “As the time was approaching to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt^{(N) 18} until a different king who did not know Joseph ruled over Egypt.^{[c] 19} He dealt deceitfully with our race and oppressed our ancestors by making them abandon their infants outside so that they wouldn’t survive.^{(O) 20} At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. He was cared for in his father’s home for three months. ²¹ When he was put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and raised him as her own son.^{(P) 22} So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his speech and actions.^(Q)

²³ “When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴ When he saw one of them being mistreated, he came to his rescue and avenged the oppressed man by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ He assumed his people would understand that God would give them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. ²⁶ The next day he showed up while they were fighting and tried to reconcile them peacefully, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’ ^(R)

²⁷ “But the one who was mistreating his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying: Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me, the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?^[d](S)

²⁹ “When he heard this, Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.^{(T) 30} After forty years had passed, an angel^[e] appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: ³² I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.^[f](U) Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

³³ “The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴ I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt.^[g](V)

³⁵ “This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?^[h]—this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.^{(W) 36} This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt,^(X) at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.^(Y)

Israel’s Rebellion against God

³⁷ “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites: God^[i] will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.^{[j](Z) 38} He is the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors.^(AA) He received living oracles to give to us.^{(AB) 39} Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him. Instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^{(AC) 40} They told Aaron: Make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.^{[k](AD) 41} They even made a calf in those days, offered sacrifice to the idol, and were celebrating what their hands had made.^{(AE) 42} God turned away^(AF) and gave them up to worship^(AG) the stars of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

God’s Real Tabernacle

⁴⁴ “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern he had seen.^{(AI) 45} Our ancestors in turn received it and with Joshua brought it in when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before them,^(AJ) until the days of David. ⁴⁶ He found favor in God’s sight and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God^[m] of Jacob.^{(AK) 47} It was Solomon, rather, who built him a house,^{(AL) 48} but the Most High does not dwell in sanctuaries made with hands, as the prophet says:^(AM)

Resisting the Holy Spirit

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked^(AO) people with uncircumcised hearts and ears!^(AP) You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?^(AQ) They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers^(AR) you have now become. ⁵³ You received the law under the direction of angels^(AS) and yet have not kept it.”

The First Christian Martyr

⁵⁴ When they heard these things, they were enraged^[o] and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.^{(AT) 56} He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ^(AU)

⁵⁷ They yelled at the top of their voices, covered their ears, and together rushed against him. ⁵⁸ They dragged him out of the city and began to stone^(AV) him. And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.^{(AW) 59} While they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ^{(AX) 60} He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice,^(AY) “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And after saying this, he fell asleep.^(AZ)

No Marriage for Jeremiah

16 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Do not marry or have sons or daughters in this place. ³ For this is what the Lord says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land: ⁴ They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the soil’s surface.^(A) They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.^(B)

⁵ “For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place.^[a] Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed my peace from these people as well as my faithful love and compassion.” This is the Lord’s declaration.^{(C) 6} “Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or^(D) shave his head for them.^{[b] 7} Food won’t be provided for the mourner^(E) to comfort him because of the dead. A consoling drink won’t be given him for the loss of his father or mother. ⁸ Do not enter the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink. ⁹ For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.^(F)

Abandoning the Lord and His Law

¹⁰ “When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the Lord declared all this terrible disaster against us?^(G) What is our iniquity? What is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ ¹¹ Then you will answer them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me^(H)—this is the Lord’s declaration—and followed other gods, served them, and bowed in worship to them.^(I) Indeed, they abandoned me and did not keep my instruction. ¹² You did more evil than your ancestors.^(J) Look, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying me. ¹³ So I will hurl you from this land into a land that you and your ancestors have not known.^(K) There you will worship other gods^(L) both day and night, for I will not grant you grace.’^[c]

¹⁴ “However, look, the days are coming”^(M)—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’^{(N) 15} but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north^(O) and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.^(P)

Punishment of Exile

¹⁶ “I am about to send for many fishermen”^(Q)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks, ¹⁷ for my gaze takes in all their ways.^(R) They are not concealed from me, and their iniquity is not hidden from my sight. ¹⁸ I will first repay them double for their iniquity^(S) and sin because they have polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their abhorrent and detestable idols.”

The Son of Man Forgives and Heals

2 When^(A) he entered Capernaum^(B) again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word^(C) to them. ³ They came to him bringing a paralytic,^(D) carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they were not able to bring him to^[a] Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵ Seeing their faith,^(E) Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins^(F) are forgiven.”^(G)

⁶ But some of the scribes^(H) were sitting there, questioning^(I) in their hearts: ⁷ “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming!^(J) Who can forgive^(K) sins^(L) but God alone?” ^(M)

⁸ Right away^(N) Jesus perceived in his spirit^(O) that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier:^(P) to say to the paralytic,^(Q) ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’?^{(R) 10} But so that you may know that the Son of Man^(S) has authority^(T) on earth to forgive sins”^(U)—he told the paralytic— ¹¹ “I tell you: get up,^(V) take your mat, and go home.”

¹² Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded^(W) and gave glory^(X) to God,^(Y) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” ^(Z)

The Call of Levi

¹³ Jesus^(AA) went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching^(AB) them. ¹⁴ Then, passing by, he saw Levi^(AC) the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office,^(AD) and he said to him, “Follow me,”^(AE) and he got up and followed^(AF) him.

¹⁵ While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors^(AG) and sinners^(AH) were eating^[b] with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. ¹⁶ When the scribes^(AI) who were Pharisees^[c](AJ) saw that he was eating^(AK) with sinners^(AL) and tax collectors,^(AM) they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat^[d] with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need^(AN) a doctor,^(AO) but those who are sick.^(AP) I didn’t come to call the righteous,^(AQ) but sinners.”^(AR)

A Question about Fasting

¹⁸ Now^(AS) John’s^(AT) disciples^(AU) and the Pharisees^[e](AV) were fasting.^(AW) People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom^(AX) is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the time^[f] will come^(AY) when the groom will be taken away from them,^(AZ) and then they will fast^(BA) on that day. ²¹ No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth,^(BB) and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine^(BC) into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst^(BD) the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”

Lord of the Sabbath

²³ On^(BE) the Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples^(BF) began to make their way, picking some heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees^(BG) said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful^(BH) on the Sabbath?”

²⁵ He said to them, “Have you never read what David^(BI) and those who were with him did when he was in need^(BJ) and hungry^(BK) — ²⁶ how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar^(BL) the high priest^(BM) and ate the bread of the Presence^(BN) —which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests^(BO) —and also gave some to his companions?” ²⁷ Then he told them, “The Sabbath was made for^[g] man and not man for the Sabbath.^{(BP) 28} So then, the Son of Man^(BQ) is Lord^(BR) even of the Sabbath.”^(BS)