The Midianite Oppression

6 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.^{(A) 2} The hand of Midian prevailed over Israel, and because of Midian the Israelites provided for themselves hiding places in the mountains, caves and strongholds. ³ For whenever the Israelites put in seed, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east would come up against them.^{(B) 4} They would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land, as far as the neighborhood of Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, nor any sheep or ox or donkey.^{(C) 5} For they and their livestock would come up, and they would even bring their tents, as thick as locusts; neither they nor their camels could be counted, so they wasted the land as they came in.^{(D) 6} Thus Israel was greatly impoverished because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.^(E)

[[⁷ When the Israelites cried to the Lord on account of the Midianites, ⁸ the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery,^{(F) 9} and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you and drove them out before you and gave you their land,^{(G) 10} and I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not pay reverence to the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.’ But you have not given heed to my voice.”^[a]]]

The Call of Gideon

¹¹ Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.^{(H) 12} The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.”^{(I) 13} Gideon answered him, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off and given us into the hand of Midian.”^{(J) 14} Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.”^{(K) 15} He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”^{(L) 16} The Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.”^{(M) 17} Then he said to him, “If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.^{(N) 18} Do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay until you return.”

¹⁹ So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot and brought them to him under the oak and presented them.^{(O) 20} The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock and pour out the broth.” And he did so.^{(P) 21} Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes, and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.^{(Q) 22} Then Gideon perceived that it was the angel of the Lord, and Gideon said, “Help me, Lord God! For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”^{(R) 23} But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you; do not fear; you shall not die.” ²⁴ Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, “The Lord is peace.” To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

²⁵ That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the sacred pole^[b] that is beside it^{(S) 26} and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order;^[c] then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole^[d] that you cut down.” ²⁷ So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had told him, but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

²⁸ When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole^[e] beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.^{(T) 29} So they said to one another, “Who has done this?” After searching and inquiring, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” ³⁰ Then the townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole^[f] beside it.” ³¹ But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down.” ³² Therefore on that day Gideon^[g] was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar.^(U)

³³ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together, and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.^{(V) 34} But the spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.^{(W) 35} He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they, too, were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

The Sign of the Fleece

³⁶ Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, ³⁷ I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.”^{(X) 38} And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, but let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”^{(Y) 40} And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Paul in Corinth

18 After this Paul^[a] left Athens and went to Corinth.^{(A) 2} There he found a Jew named Aquila from Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul^[b] went to see them,^{(B) 3} and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together—by trade they were tentmakers.^{(C) 4} Every Sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks.^(D)

⁵ When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word,^[c] testifying to the Jews that the Messiah^[d] was Jesus.^{(E) 6} When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes^[e] and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.”^{(F) 7} Then he left the synagogue^[f] and went to the house of a man named Titius^[g] Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue.^{(G) 8} Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household, and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized.^{(H) 9} One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent,^{(I) 10} for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.”^{(J) 11} He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. ¹³ They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law.” ¹⁴ Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews,^{(K) 15} but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.” ¹⁶ And he dismissed them from the tribunal. ¹⁷ Then all of them^[h] seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things.^(L)

Paul’s Return to Antioch

¹⁸ After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow.^{(M) 19} When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, but first he himself went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay longer, he declined, ²¹ but on taking leave of them he said, “I^[i] will return to you, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.^(N)

²² When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem^[j] and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.^{(O) 23} After spending some time there he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia^[k] and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.^(P)

Ministry of Apollos

²⁴ Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos from Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures.^{(Q) 25} He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.^{(R) 26} He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. ²⁷ And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers,^{(S) 28} for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah^[l] is Jesus.^(T)