Gideon

6 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord,^(A) and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.^{(B) 2} Because the power of Midian was so oppressive,^(C) the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves^(D) and strongholds.^{(E) 3} Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites^(F) and other eastern peoples^(G) invaded the country. ⁴ They camped on the land and ruined the crops^(H) all the way to Gaza^(I) and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. ⁵ They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts.^(J) It was impossible to count them or their camels;^(K) they invaded the land to ravage it. ⁶ Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out^(L) to the Lord for help.

⁷ When the Israelites cried out^(M) to the Lord because of Midian, ⁸ he sent them a prophet,^(N) who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt,^(O) out of the land of slavery.^{(P) 9} I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors;^(Q) I drove them out before you and gave you their land.^{(R) 10} I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship^(S) the gods of the Amorites,^(T) in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

¹¹ The angel of the Lord^(U) came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah^(V) that belonged to Joash^(W) the Abiezrite,^(X) where his son Gideon^(Y) was threshing^(Z) wheat in a winepress^(AA) to keep it from the Midianites. ¹² When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you,^(AB) mighty warrior.^(AC)”

¹³ “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders^(AD) that our ancestors told^(AE) us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned^(AF) us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴ The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have^(AG) and save^(AH) Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

¹⁵ “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan^(AI) is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.^(AJ)”

¹⁶ The Lord answered, “I will be with you^(AK), and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

¹⁷ Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign^(AL) that it is really you talking to me. ¹⁸ Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

¹⁹ Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat,^(AM) and from an ephah^[a](AN) of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.^(AO)

²⁰ The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock,^(AP) and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. ²¹ Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread^(AQ) with the tip of the staff^(AR) that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. ²² When Gideon realized^(AS) that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”^(AT)

²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid.^(AU) You are not going to die.”^(AV)

²⁴ So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called^(AW) it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah^(AX) of the Abiezrites.

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.^{(A) 15} The Jews^(B) there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning^(C) without having been taught?”^(D)

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.^{(E) 17} Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out^(F) whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory,^(G) but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law?^(H) Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”^(I)

²⁰ “You are demon-possessed,”^(J) the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle,^(K) and you are all amazed. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision^(L) (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs),^(M) you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”^(N)

Division Over Who Jesus Is

²⁵ At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?^{(O) 26} Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities^(P) really concluded that he is the Messiah?^{(Q) 27} But we know where this man is from;^(R) when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts,^(S) cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from.^(T) I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.^(U) You do not know him, ²⁹ but I know him^(V) because I am from him and he sent me.”^(W)

³⁰ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him,^(X) because his hour had not yet come.^{(Y) 31} Still, many in the crowd believed in him.^(Z) They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs^(AA) than this man?”